A container that can store contents without unused space within the container facilitates efficient use of storage space. Such a container may be made, for example, of a flexible material, and may, for example, include a mechanism that allows a user to expel excess gas out of the container. The container may also include a resealable closure mechanism that allows a user to repeatedly unseal and seal the container, and the resealable closure mechanism may include the mechanism that allows the user to expel excess gas from the container.
One such closure mechanism is disposed across a main opening in a flexible pouch. A first closure element has a female profile extending from a first base portion thereof that is attached to an interior surface of a first pouch sidewall. A second closure element has a male profile extending from a second base thereof that is attached to an interior surface of an opposite second pouch sidewall. The male profile interlocks with the female profile to occlude the closure mechanism. A flexible leg extends from the first base on a product side of the female profile. An aperture is disposed coincidentally through the first base and the first pouch sidewall between the female profile and the flexible leg. The second base includes a contact surface opposite the flexible leg for forming a seal with the flexible leg when contacted by an end of the flexible leg. The closure mechanism in an occluded state prevents gas from entering the pouch. Increased gas pressure from an interior of the pouch forces the flexible leg out of contact with the contact surface, thereby allowing gas to be forced out of the pouch past the flexible leg and through the aperture. Instead of an aperture through the first base, another closure mechanism has transverse slots cut into the female profile, and the flexible leg and contact surface are on a user side of the male and female profiles. Still another closure mechanism has second male and female closure profiles added on a user side of the flexible leg and the contact surface, and the second female closure profile has transverse slots cut therethrough to allow gas to escape from the pouch.
Another closure mechanism is disposed on a flexible pouch. A first closure element has first and second hooked profiles that extend therefrom and a second closure element has third and fourth hooked profiles that extend therefrom. The first and second hooked profiles interlock respectively with the third and fourth hooked profiles to engage the first closure element to the second closure element in an occluded closed position, wherein fluid cannot escape from an interior of the pouch. A user may compress the first closure element and the second closure element together to disengage the first and second hooked profiles from the third and fourth hooked profiles, thereby defining an occluded venting position that allows fluid to flow from an interior of the pouch between and past the first and second closure elements to an exterior of the pouch.
Yet another closure mechanism is disposed between first and second opposing pouch sidewalls. The closure mechanism has a first closure element that is releasably engageable to a second closure element. The first closure element has a first fin extending downwardly therefrom, and the second closure element has a second fin extending downwardly therefrom. Each of the first and second fins is sealed to the respective first and second pouch sidewalls and includes a vent disposed therethrough. A top portion of each of the first and second pouch sidewalls overlaps the vent disposed in each respective fin to form a gastight seal between the fin and the sidewall. The top portion of the sidewall may be forcibly separated from the fin by internal gas pressure to allow gas to escape from an interior of the pouch. In another closure mechanism, vents are disposed through each of the first and second pouch sidewalls and are overlapped by the respective first and second fins to form a gastight seal that may be released by internal gas pressure to allow gas to escape from an interior of the pouch.